Richard Nixon's resignation: What people are saying 40 years later

Richard Nixon might just be the most controversial, fascinating, hated and talked about man in United States history. After all, he's graced the cover of Time magazine more than anyone else (55 times); he won America's hearts with a speech about his dog, Checkers; and his elected positions included congressman, senator, vice president and president of the United States.

This week, Nixon is once again making headlines as Saturday marks the 40th anniversary of his resignation--the first and only time a United States president has done so. The Chicago Tribune editorial board said the occasion marks a good time for reflection "because many Americans interested in political issues are too young to have experienced the shocking realization that their president lied to cover up wrongdoing."

"How and why did this ruthless, talented man--perhaps the best-prepared person ever to assume the Presidency--squander those assets? The answer remains in large part deeply personal to Nixon, and therefore beyond explanation, although the more persuasive theories begin with the presumption that Nixon never got over his very narrow loss to John F. Kennedy in the 1960 Presidential race; that he believed the Kennedy campaign had cheated and stolen the election, something that he'd never allow to happen again, whatever it took; and that the loss, as well as his scarily close margin of victory in 1968, magnified his natural suspicion and created an atmosphere in the White House that encouraged lawlessness."

Nixon's oval office recordings became a smoking gun in his involvement in the Watergate cover up. But a new book, "The Nixon Tapes: 1971-1972," by Douglas Brinkley and Luke A. Nicher, offers a selection of scenes from Nixon's pre-Watergate years. In a Q&A with The Daily Beast, Brinkley answered questions about if the tapes that destroyed Nixon would help rehabilitate his image.

"I think the tapes on foreign policy show just how it was Nixon's foreign policy and not Kissinger's. How totally in command he was on things. How he was hoping to do a grand Wilsonian realignment of great powers. And the idea was that in the 21st century that there would be two superpowers--the United States and China--and how everything was connected...The tapes show the elaborate thinking of Nixon, which makes him in some ways as a geo-strategist a hardcore realist, look fairly impressive."

"When Nixon stepped down, to be replaced by Vice President Gerald Ford, he did not admit guilt or apologize. He didn't say he was quitting to take responsibility for the debilitating scandal that began with a bizarre burglary of high-level Democrats by Republican operatives...The closest Nixon came to admitting culpability during his 15-minute Oval Office address was to express regret at the 'injuries' he had caused."

"Watergate has faded into a few pages in a history book or a cliché to pull out in a news conference or a suffix to attach to some new scandal-gate...What lessons that may hold for today depends on who's talking.

"Timothy Naftali, the former director of the Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, said the anniversary should prompt discussion about the proper constitutional balance of power. "It's a good time to reflect why some presidents are really threatened with impeachment,' he said, 'and why for other presidents impeachment is just a term tossed around for political effect.'"